​OCD Checking Illness and conditions Anxiety

​Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder presents itself in many guises, and certainly goes far beyond the common misconception that OCD is merely a little hand washing or checking light switches. Although those are valid OCD compulsions, such perceptions fail to acknowledge the distressing thoughts that occur prior to such behaviours and also fails to highlight the utter devastation that constant compulsions (no matter what they are) can cause.Although there are infinite forms of OCD, it has been traditionally considered that a person’s OCD will fall into one of these five main categories, with themes often overlapping between categories too.CheckingContamination / Mental ContaminationSymmetry and orderingRuminations / Intrusive ThoughtsHoarding

​The person with OCD will have the obsessional worry that seeing mild symptoms means they are going to develop an illness and will repeatedly check their body for more signs, google various medical websites for symptoms and even visit the GP for diagnosis and checks. The secondary obsessional fear and worry is that the illness is present and they will become seriously ill and/or die, or that they would be to blame for spreading viruses if they are ill themselves.